Let’s do something fun.
I want you to look up your Zestimate.
This is Zillow’s estimate of the value of your home. Just go to the website and type in your address.
Let me know what you think of the value. Too high, too low or just right?
It was my worst day in real estate.
I had made a huge mistake.
This was back in the days of Blackberry phones. I had forwarded (or thought I had forwarded) an exclusion list to some buyers via email.
Well long story short, they never got it and the first time they had a look at the list of things that were not (and supposed to be) included with their new home was at the closing table.
How do you spell disaster?
What transpired next was me renting a small UHaul in a blizzard and driving 6+ hours to retrieve the massive amount missing items.
As I was commiserating with the man at UHaul about my epic mistake he said the following...
“A person will be judged not on the mistakes they make, but on the actions they do to correct the mistake”.
Little did this stranger know but he gave me a spark of hope and reprieve. A verbal life raft in a sea of self loathing.
We are all human, we make mistakes, it comes with the territory. But how you handle and respond to your mistakes reveals ones character.
That day I didn’t blame anyone else for what happened and I know I did everything humanly possible to make up for my mistake.
And now, I copy myself on every email to make double sure.
Being a “local” has become a somewhat territorial statement.
“I’m a local so I know better, have priority or get to complain about all the non-locals”.
This is kinda BS in my opinion, after all we are all “locals” of planet earth At least I think so
But there is a situation where being a local is super important.
Your real estate agent.
I often have clients ask me to help them buy or sell in other areas such as Denver or Grand Junction. And while my real estate license is good for the entire state of Colorado, I don’t feel I am providing the best service possible by helping buyers and sellers in areas I don’t know.
If you are not a local you might not know about the large employer that’s about to relocate, or the proposed airport expansion or areas notorious for bad water or shifting soils.
It is so flattering that my clients want to “take me with them” to their new area. And while I cannot be their boots on the ground agent, I’m more than happy to interview agents in other areas and find a great fit - a local who knows their community and can look out for your best interests.
My network of excellent agents is literally worldwide! So if you need any agent in another area, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to assist you.
The sellers property disclosure, your friendly form.
Did you know the number complaint with the division of real estate is non-disclosure by sellers?
What does this mean in plain English. “We bought a house from Mr and Mrs Seller and they never told us about the roof leak, the cracked foundation, the flood in the basement, fill in the blank.”
So how do sellers avoid this unpleasant situation?
There is this handy form we use in real estate called the Sellers Property Disclosure. This form is your opportunity to air all your homes dirty laundry.
Sometimes I have sellers balk at this form, they feel reluctant to fill it out.
But think of this form as your get out of jail free card.
The save your bacon form.
The keep you out of hot water form.
You can’t hide things from the new buyer!
Just picture this. New buyer moves in and who should saunter over, but Karen from across the street.
“Oh welcome to the neighborhood! I was just saying to my husband that I didn’t think anyone would buy this home with the moldy attic and all.”
Your neighbors know everything! And if something is wrong with your house the buyers are going to find out eventually.
It’s best to be as thorough and accurate as possible with the disclosure. It will protect you in the long run and keep you out of trouble.
Yes, you might have to make some repairs, but I can promise you it will be a lot cheaper than a lawsuit and attorney fees.
When in doubt, DISCLOSE!
I lost a potential listing the other day. They decided to go with someone else which is totally okay. You can’t win them all, right?!
In this market it’s incredibly hard to price property. Homes are regularly going for over asking and often with multiple offers.
Sometimes I feel like an agent turned fortune teller, trying to predict the future for my clients.
I am a data freak. In other words, I rely on the data to guide me. So when you ask me to list your home, I am coming prepared with the facts.
What are homes selling for?
How long are they on the market?
What’s the price per square foot?
What’s the available inventory?
How much more can I add to the list price knowing the current market conditions?
At the end of the day, I told these sellers a list price they didn’t like.
I want all my clients, both buyers and sellers, to feel heard, not pressured and above all respected. But part of my job is delivering professional advice.
I can promise you I won’t blow smoke.
I will tell you the straight facts.
I value transparency and being honest.
I will give you my honest opinion on price but ultimately the the list price is up to you and I will likely support it even if its over what I think is appropriate.
And I will advocate for you every step of the way. With gratitude.
“Mom, what’s a little white lie?”
How do kids come up with the toughest questions?
And how do you explain that lying (sometimes) is quasi-okay? Because it really isn’t but we also need to hold our tongues sometimes.
What would you say (or have you said) if a child asked you this question?
When the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia, Bill and I were on a cross country road trip from Colorado to Vermont.
We listened to music the whole trip and had no idea this catastrophic, world wide event had happened.
It was surreal to pick up a copy of the Boston Globe and see photos of the destruction on the front page. Watching the footage of the disaster on TV was horrifying and it felt weird, knowing this had all unfolded and we had no clue.
Ignorance is bliss and sometimes knowledge = pain.
I felt off center and disoriented. I recognize that might sounds selfish but I have no other way to describe it.
Has anything like this ever happened to you? I would love to hear your story.
We orbit the gamut of emotions like the earth orbits the sun.
Sometimes we hardly notice our feelings, they are light hearted and fun or run of the mill and mundane.
But sometimes an emotion, like grief or anger, can grip us. And the orbit becomes tighter and faster, like a dying star being drawn to a black hole. Until we reach the event horizon and there’s no turning back.
A black hole is shaped like a funnel in the fabric of space and time. And the dying star gets sucked into the mouth of the funnel never to be seen again.
But scientists are still not sure what’s on the other side of the black hole. What if there’s peace and redemption on the other side? What if there is light and love?
Think of this - even if the caterpillar could comprehend the transition to butterfly, would she even dare to dream that she would go from belly crawler to flying beauty? And as a side note, the caterpillar turns to actual goo during its miraculous transformation.
So if you find yourself in a season of anger or grief that seems never-ending I urge you to remember the mystery and miracle that surrounds transformation. That hearts that are shattered or hardened can beat again with the life blood of rebirth and forgiveness.
Do you believe?
With gratitude.
“I just called the agent on the sign.”
I hear this all the time.
Buyers that end up with the agent on the sign because they didn’t know they had a choice.
Here’s the deal.
You should interview and hire an agent to help you buy your home just as a seller interviews and hires an agent to help them sell their home.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the “agent on the sign”. I just believe you owe it to yourself to make a CHOICE about the matter versus someone you ended up with by CHANCE
With gratitude.
I really love my job. I know lots of people feel that way but for me there are so many gratifying aspects of real estate.
And testimonials like this are what keep me coming back on the hard days.
If we have worked together in the past just know that I value our relationship and your trust in me. I am forever grateful.
With gratitude.
You have 3 choices when pricing your home:
Test the market. This strategy works in a rapidly rising market because you are pricing ahead of the market with the hopes that the market will meet or surpass your list price
Price it right. This falls right into the range of what market comparables tell us the home is worth. Not too high, not too low.
Is this sounding a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears?
Strategically aggressive price. This is the price range that attracts multiple offers and offers over asking price.
There is no right or wrong answer. But your pricing should reflect your timing goals. Please leave any questions below.
It’s all in the footwear.
Remember when you were a kid and you got a new pair of shoes and adults would say, “I bet you can run extra fast in those new shoes!”
And depending on your age, you did run faster (or at least you thought you did).
Funny thing, this still applies as an adult.
When we stay home and I have lots to do, the footwear I choose for the day dictates how much I am going to get done.
On the days that I go with the sneaks, I get tons done. The days I go with the slippers…. not so much!
What are some of your favorite words?
Here are a few of mine: cup, icy, pip, kurfuffel, hippopotamus, effervescent, curlicue & ampersand. I just love the way they sound!
And here are a couple I hate - moist, stench and curdle.
What are a few your faves and not so favorite words?
How do you know if you priced your home correctly?
Well in this market its pretty easy to know.
As a general rule of thumb, if your home is not under contract in 3 weeks you have likely overshot the market.
You might think, no big deal.
Here’s the thing - the longer your home sits on the market the more buyers begin to believe there is something wrong with your home OR they can low ball you.
The goal should be to sell your home not just list it.
Buying vs Renting in today’s market.
Which is better?
There are pros and cons to both. But here’s a couple of key points.
When you own your landlord can’t raise your rent.
When you own your landlord can’t put your rental on the market.
When you own you are building equity and wealth for YOU.
When you rent and the sewer line fails its not your problem.
When you rent you are not in a “committed relationship” with your home.
Homeownership doesn’t have to be out of reach, no matter what you tell yourself. I have great strategies and resources for first time buyers to overcome the fear of buying a home.
“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”
– Mortimer J. Adler
Oh there have been so many.
Ones that hooked me.
Ones that I couldn’t wait to read again.
Ones that made me cry.
Ones that made me laugh.
Ones I didn’t care for.
And the ones that have migrated into my bones.
The amazing thing about books is that when you crack the cover, you have tapped into the imagination of the author. But the really cool part is, each one of us will interpret a book in our own way. What calls to me will be different for you.
There is a great quote about reading I just encountered: “I am a reader. Not because I don’t have a life, but because I want to have many.”
With gratitude.
REMEMBER MIXED TAPES?
Not playlists. Not Spotify.
I’m talking actual mixed tapes—the kind you made with a dual cassette deck, a prayer, and deep emotional commitment.
I found this little gem while decluttering the other day and it hit me right in the Caboodles case (Google this if you don’t remember these fine cosmetic accessories).
One of my besties made it for me in high school, and let me tell you—it’s fire before fire was even a thing.
Tried to explain it to my kids and… nope.
They’re still trying to figure out where the Scotch “tape” .goes.
Making a mixed tape was an art form.
You had to plan the playlist just right—no dead space, no chopped endings.
Song order mattered. Mood mattered. You were crafting a vibe, people. And you couldn’t just press play and walk away. Nope—you had to ride the levels, babysit the pause button, and be ready to flip that tape like your social life depended on it.
It wasn’t just a playlist.
It was a love letter. A secret handshake. A curated, 90-minute emotional support audio scroll.
So what’s the modern-day equivalent?
Venmoing someone $7 with the caption “go get your coffee, boo”?
Sending a meme that says “this made me think of you”?
I don’t know. But man…
Mixed tapes hit different.
Looking on the bright side.
Here’s what I do when I am having a total crap day.
Pull up those cool videos that do the zoom out of the universe. You know the ones, it starts on your street and progresses to the next solar system in the Milky Way, or something like that!
When I feel like my problems are insurmountable I like to remind myself that I am just a speck in the universe and whatever I am going through is likely transitory.
Do you have custom home taste on a Tuff Shed budget?
Well you aren’t alone and here are a couple helpful tips to overcome this pesky situation.
Homeownership is a stepping stone process. With each home purchase you will likely be getting more of what you want. Consider readjusting your expectations and recognize you might not yet own your dream home.
Lots can be done with cosmetic repairs. That run down home down in your neighborhood might not yet look like a gem but with some elbow grease and money you can turn out a diamond in the rough.
Be strategic about buying by watching the market with a trusted real estate agent. Is the market rapidly accelerating? Purchasing a smaller home or condo in a rising market and then quickly selling while the market is still rising can produce quick equity that can allow you to leap frog to your next home sooner than later.
The advice of a trusted and knowledgeable real estate agent is important to maximize these strategies. Reach out with questions.
Who’s interested in a used encyclopedia set?
This girl!
We got these from a friend and when I told Elizabeth they were going to be ours she was intrigued and excited.
What’s an encyclopedia she wondered..
I tried to explain the World Book collection I had as a kid. Remember those?
My favorite book was H for human body. Our set had clear sheets that showed individual body systems. One for circulatory, one for the nervous system, one for respiration, etc. I loved flipping through these clear pages and studying the amazing human body.
I explained to her that before the internet, if you wanted to know about something, you had to look them up in the encyclopedia.
I’m not sure if she believes me.
Anyway, the big day arrived and she spent a good 3 hours pouring over her new books.
Gosh, I love this kid.
Watch how Carrie’s local expertise can help you find the perfect Kremmling home!